Oommen Chandy Takes Oath as Kerala Chief Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy was on Wednesday sworn in as the 21st chief minister of Kerala along with six ministers.

The ministers who were sworn in are P.K. Kunhalikutty, K.M. Maani, K.P. Mohanan, T.M. Jacob, K.B. Ganesh Kumar and Shibu Baby John. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan.

The first meeting of the cabinet was scheduled to be held after the swearing-in, where portfolios for the ministers were expected to be finalised.

But some of the ministers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front government have a tainted past. P.K. Kunhalikutty, general secretary of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), was allegedly involved in the ice-cream sex scandal case.

T.M. Jacob, chief of KC(J), has a vigilance case against him in connection with the Kurian Kutty Karappara irrigation project.

K.M. Maani, chief of KC(M), is a former minister and has a pending vigilance case related to illegal power sale to a Bangalore-based private company.